Bruce Oake Death Story: Bruce was Anne and Scott Oake’s first-born son. Scott, a Gemini Award-winning sportscaster, and Anne, a qualified nurse, have two boys, Bruce and Darcy. Bruce was a precocious and charming child with a powerful, booming voice. Elementary school was challenging for Bruce due to his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but he had learned to adjust by high school.
He was popular with his peers and worked hard to make the high school basketball team. Bruce was a great boxer who competed in the Canada Games. He also had a gift for contemporary music and won “rap battles.”
One of the indications of ADHD is impulsiveness, which leads to a readiness to try nearly anything, and no amount of instruction could keep him away from drugs. Weed was the first substance used in high school, followed by ecstasy and crystal meth, and it wasn’t long before opiates and heroin were introduced.
In Bruce’s early twenties, Scott and Anne referred him to a long-term therapy program, where he thrived. The treatment is divided into three stages, and addicts can stay for up to three years while receiving the tools they need to cope with their addiction and reintegrate into society. Bruce lived at Simon House for a year and came out of it feeling clear-headed and accepting himself for who he was: an addict. Sadly, the cycle had not been stopped, and Bruce relapsed, returning to Simon House the following year. The second stint at Simon House lasted only a few months until he failed a drug test and was forced to leave. Bruce died a week later from a heroin overdose at the age of 25.
Bruce’s family, including his mother Anne and father Scott, as well as his younger brother Darcy, have been left with an unfillable void in their hearts. Nonetheless, they are dedicated to making Bruce’s life meaningful and ensuring that something positive arises from his untimely death. The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, an addiction treatment clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, similar to Fresh Start Recovery Centre in Calgary, Alberta, assists hundreds of men in managing their addictions and reintegrating into society.
